Gaming terminals, such as slot machines, video poker machines and the like, have been a cornerstone of the gaming industry for several years. Generally, the popularity of such machines with players is dependent on the likelihood (or perceived likelihood) of winning money at the machine and the intrinsic entertainment value of the machine relative to other available gaming options. Where the available gaming options include a number of competing machines and the expectation of winning at each machine is roughly the same (or believed to be the same), players are likely to be attracted to the most entertaining and exciting machines. Shrewd operators consequently strive to employ the most entertaining and exciting machines, features, and enhancements available because such machines attract frequent play and hence increase profitability to the operator. Thus, gaming manufacturers continuously endeavor to develop new games and improved gaming enhancements that will attract frequent play through enhanced entertainment value to the player.
One concept that has been successfully employed to enhance the entertainment value of a game is the concept of a “secondary” or “bonus” game that may be played in conjunction with a “primary” or “basic” game. The bonus game may comprise any type of game, either similar to or completely different from the basic game, which is entered upon the occurrence of a selected event or outcome in the basic game. Generally, bonus games provide a greater expectation of winning than the basic game and may also be accompanied with more attractive or unusual video displays and/or audio.
Another concept that has been employed is the use of progressive jackpots. In the gaming industry, a “progressive jackpot” involves collecting coin-in data from participating gaming device(s), such as slot machines, contributing a percentage of that coin-in data to a jackpot amount, and awarding that jackpot amount to a player upon the occurrence of a jackpot-winning event. A jackpot-winning event typically occurs when a “progressive winning position” is achieved at a participating gaming device. If the gaming device is a slot machine, a progressive winning position may, for example, correspond to alignment of progressive jackpot reel symbols along an active payline. The initial progressive jackpot is a predetermined minimum amount. That jackpot amount, however, progressively increases as players continue to play the gaming machine without winning the jackpot. Further, when several gaming machines are linked together such that several players at several gaming machines compete for the same jackpot, the jackpot progressively increases at a much faster rate.
Conventional slot-type wagering games include a plurality of symbol-bearing reels, each of which has a plurality of distinct reel positions populated by a variety of different types of symbols. Traditionally, slot-type gaming machines display randomly determined outcomes that are represented to the player by select symbols on the symbol-bearing reels, and award players for game outcomes with winning symbols and combinations of symbols in accordance with a pay table. To enhance player entertainment and excitement, some slot-type gaming machines have employed “clumping” of symbols, where groups or “clumps” of the same symbol appear adjacent one another on the same reel. For some implementations, a symbol clump consists of a single, elongated symbol (sometime referred to as a “picture symbol” or “picture clump”) that occupies multiple reel positions on the same reel. By occupying multiple adjacent reel positions with one or more of the same symbols, a symbol clump typically increases the likelihood of achieving a winning outcome and, thus, winning a corresponding award.
In general, the number of symbol clumps on any given reel, as well as the respective location and size of each symbol clump, are customarily preset and unchangeable. Moreover, for the cluster of adjacent reel positions occupied by a particular symbol clump, each position typically has the same mathematical probability of occupying an available array position in any given game outcome as the other reel positions that are part of that clump. Some prior art implementations are even configured such that each reel position in a clump has the same mathematical probability of occupying an available array position in a game outcome as any of the other positions on the reel. Like the location and size of a particular clump, the mathematical probability of a given reel position of a symbol clump occupying an available array position in a game outcome is customarily predetermined and fixed. Additionally, given the increased likelihood of a winning outcome, clumps are oftentimes permanently assigned to symbols corresponding to lower award values on the pay table.
Slot games with clumped symbols have become very popular in the gaming industry; as such, game designers are more frequently integrating symbol clumps into new game designs. Research has shown that players prefer symbol clumps that are presented as a picture-type symbol clump as it is believed by players that picture clumps are easier to achieve than other clump arrangements. Picture clumps also help to enhance player anticipation and excitement because they are more readily perceptible to a player while the reels are spinning than standard-sized symbols. Historically, each segment of a picture clump (i.e., each reel position occupied by the clump) has the same probability of landing on a particular array position as the other segments of the clump. With this arrangement, however, many picture clumps have a minimal chance of landing flush in an outcome of the slot game.
There is still a need for additional concepts to enhance the entertainment value of slot-type wagering games. Although a lot of focus is now being paid to enhancing bonus games, there is still room for improving facets of the basic wagering game.